Pages

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list
on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new
theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will
ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and
add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post,
add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at
the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's topic is: Paranormal Creatures You Want to See in a Story {Idea by Bibliognome}

*in no particular order

GARGOYLES

Gargoyles are actually on the rise of appearing in books and I couldn't be happier! I've always thought they were pretty cool ever since the days in the 90s watching the cartoon show!GHOSTS

There are some books with ghosts, but not enough I don't think! True they pop up every now and then, but I'd like to see more of them! Maybe as a more important role than side character. I know Chris Marie Green has a series coming out in February that will give me my fix!SHAPESHIFTERS

Maybe not necessarily the Supernatural variety, but I think shapeshifters don't always get enough page time. Now I love my werewolves, but another kind of shifter would be nice to see occasionally! Cecy Robson's series does provide that too!VAMPIRE/OR OTHER MONSTER SLAYER/HUNTER

Yes, a complex name. Basically someone who has almost paranormally enhanced abilities who hunts the monsters. I feel like we have so many "monsters" and among them, some pretty wicked ones that need someone to keep them in line. Or something like that!MERMAIDS

We do have some mermaid books. Quite a variety, but mostly are all YA. I would like to see an adult book that has a mermaid heroine or something or other!

You can’t tell the story
of how it all began for supernatural cops Ivy Tamwood and Rachel Morgan
without telling how it all nearly ended. The fiery living vampire and
erstwhile earth witch never asked to be paired up in the first place.
And having to work Inderland Security’s crummiest beat—busting two-bit
paranormal street punks—sure didn’t sweeten the deal. But when it
counts, Ivy and Rachel always have each other’s backs. They’d
better—because someone just hung targets on both of them.

It
doesn’t take a hotshot homicide detective to know that nearly getting
flattened by a falling gargoyle or impaled by a lead pipe aren’t
on-the-job accidents. But it doesn’t seem possible that the class of
crooks Ivy and Rachel routinely collar could kill anything but brain
cells. So who put Cincinnati’s tough and tender twosome on their “to do
in” list? Is Ivy’s vampire master, the powerful and seductive Piscary,
jealous of her growing bloodlust (and just plain lust) for Rachel? Or
have forces unknown—living or undead—made the partners prey in a deadly
witch (and vampire) hunt?

Before this case is cracked, Ivy
and Rachel will face down vicious dogs, speeding locomotives, rogue
bloodsuckers, and their own dark desires; spells will be cast and blood
will be spilled; and Kim Harrison’s hair-raising, heart-racing, dark
urban world of magic and monsters will leap howling from the pages of
her second electrifying, full-color graphic novel.

Kim Harrison and Gemma Magno come together again in the second Hollows Graphic Novel, Blood Crime! So continues the tale of Ivy and Rachel while they were still working for the I.S.

This is definitely one of my favorite graphic novel series as I loooove the Hollows! Seeing Rachel and Ivy and other characters, like Kisten...sigh...all colorful on the page is astounding!! I am hoping this graphic novel series continues, but there isn't any available info for a continuance! I keep hoping we see how/when Jenks gets onto the scene for he's still not apart of the team.In this one we more of an idea of the uber scary relationship Piscary and Ivy have. Piscary is really one scary vamp. The hold he has over Ivy is astounding. Yet, she still tries to fight him every chance she gets.It was weird seeing Ivy and Kisten as a sort of couple in this one. True, I know it's too early for Rachel and Kisten to be together. But I guess I keep expecting to see him flirt with her. But they haven't even met yet technically and since he's with Ivy at this time, it's a moot point.I find it hard to describe the storyline of this one. Basically someone is after Rachel, trying to kill her. Ivy will do everything possible to prevent that. I find that this graphic novel series centers around Ivy more so than Rachel. And of course, we're in her mind and point of view, so yeah that pretty much cements it. This series is definitely one that lets you get inside Ivy's mind and see what's she thinking and all that before we make it to the Hollows series scene!I highly recommend the current two graphic novels out to other Hollows fans! It's an enjoyable and fast read and the illustrations are gorgeous! Kudos to Gemma! And naturally, Kim's writing shines through as always!Overall Rating 5/5 stars

To everyone celebrating today, I hope you all have a GREAT day!!Did you also know that today...or really yesterday, Disney's FROZEN releases?! Not sure if I will get to the theaters today, but I am hoping to see this one soon because as you all know I LOVE Disney and sooo cannot wait to see their take on the Snow Queen!!

It looks freaking awesome!

To any Black Friday...or do we now call it Black Thanksgiving?...shoppers, be careful out there and good luck!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

Meet the furry big brother that the Wird sisters never had…

Bren
is a cocky, brash hound of a werewolf who loathes the idea of belonging
to Aric’s pack—much less finding a mate. But Bren’s hotheaded behavior
lands him in the doghouse when he defies Aric’s authority in front of
his pack, bringing up a sore subject that’s bound to make the Alpha
wolf’s blood boil…

Luckily for him, no one can stay mad at Bren
and his wild charm for long. And when some frightening ghosts launch a
hostile paranormal takeover, Bren will team up with Celia to take down
the evil ghouls before they hurt someone they both love…

Cannot wait to get back to this series!! This novella comes out next week and then the next book comes out in January!! Yay!

Celia Wird and
her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny
exception: they're products of a backfired curse that has given each of
them unique powers that make them, well, weird ...

Celia’s a girl in trouble. Her heart is bound to Aric, but he is a pureblood were
who must deny her or risk condemning his species to extinction. And
that’s just her love life. She’s also been called to take down a group
of demon terrorists looking to overthrow the paranormal world. (No
pressure.)

In order to bring them down, Celia must ally herself
to Misha, the master vampire who has made no secret of his desire for
her. And if that weren’t enough misfortune for one girl, a
clairvoyant’s prediction could destroy Celia and Aric’s love for good.
The only way to protect the world from unbridled supernatural terrorism
is for Celia to bind herself to her destined mate. And that doesn’t
appear to be Aric .

Again, sooooo cannot wait to read this one! And I soooo love this cover! Definitely my fave from the series so far!

Serving
coffee is temporary, just like Casey's year off from school. She’s
going to come up with a plan to stay in New York City and go back to
college, and that plan does not involve dating a paranormal creature—let
alone two.

Running the supernatural society of New York is not
as fun as it sounds, especially when you still have to answer to your
ex-girlfriend’s fiancé. Toby doesn’t mean to bring Casey into the chaos
of his life, but he can't resist the girl who makes him smile when he
thought no one else ever could.

Jared's in New York checking out a
security risk for his best friend, the king. He plans to return to New
Orleans quickly, but not if it means losing his chance with the brunette
who pretends she wants nothing to do with him.

In over her head
with a bunch of winged creatures who most definitely are not angels,
Casey has to figure out who to trust with her life and maybe her heart.

I was surprised with how much I fell in love with Alyssa Rose Ivy's Crescent Chronicles, so I was more than excited for Soar once I learned she would continue the story of this world through a different point of view. And from Toby, no less. Although, it's not told just through Toby's point of view, we also get Casey and Jared!! 3 in 1 and it was freaking amazing!

I wasn't much of a Toby fan in The Crescent Chronicles, although he did redeem himself in the end, naturally. Throughout Soar, I felt like we got to see a whole new side to Toby. True, he still did some pretty bad things in regards to Allie, but part of that had to do with who Allie was. Toby is quite the character and I found myself rooting for him more than Jared. And I freaking loved Jared in the first trilogy. Although, I had hoped he was going to fall for Allie's friend.

In Soar, the story kind of starts off at a slower pace, but still exciting in some ways. Casey is about to be introduced to the Petron world when she agrees to go out with Toby in order to escape a date that she didn't want from her boss at the coffee shop. Eric is kind of a jerk in ways and doesn't like accepting no for an answer, although he does seem to be into Casey.

Soon feelings and emotions develop between Casey and Toby. They have a sweet kind of romance, but once the Petron stuff comes into their relationship when Casey's life is threatened, she begins to see things differently. One part comes along with her realizing that Toby's ex that he mentioned in passing, is in fact the queen, Allie. But that doesn't stop Casey from befriending Allie, although it kind of puts a damper on things between her and Toby.

Then there's Jared. He wants Casey too and it starts to seem like a whole replay of Allie's life, but yet it's not. Jared was our resident playboy and the fact that he wants Casey and sees him having something more with her becomes endearing to me. For 3/4 of the novel, I was all for Casey choosing Toby but then that last 1/4 really got to me. I could see Jared being her "one". Of course now I am left befuddled with who she stands with on the cover, I had assumed Toby in the beginning, now I have no clue!

The ending was quite astonishing too! There was some buildup to why Casey was so special. There are a string of werewolf and bear attacks in the city, NYC, so yeah that's weird, which led to the Petrons investigating it. But soon the enemies start looking at Casey in a way that makes Toby and Jared both very unhappy.

Soar was a phenomenal read! Old characters return and new ones too! I was happy to see Allie and Levi and Owen again, Hailey too! The ending was freaking fantastic and it's going to create a whole new set of issues for Casey and her life. Plus the enemy is still at large, or perhaps it was a new enemy. I wasn't too clear on that, but that was mostly because my jaw was still dropping from a prior shocking moment!! I sooo cannot wait to read Search, book 2 in The Empire Chronicles and I can only hope Alyssa doesn't leave us hanging for long!

Top Ten Tuesday
is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of
lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists
with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here
at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.
All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on
your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so
that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a
blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun
way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Things I Am Thankful For

These will be both book and non-book related!

*in no particular order

1. MY FAMILY

2. MY FRIENDS

3. BOOKS

4. AUTHORS

Author Pictured: Maria V. Snyder

5. PUBLISHERS

6. INTERNET

For without it, I wouldn't be blogging or making blogging buddies!

7. MY HOUSE

Family house, but same thing since I still live there!

8. MY JOB

It may not be what I want to do with my degree currently, but still grateful/thankful to have a job!

9. MY HEALTH

10. DISNEY

Okay, this one's weird to say, but yeah, I loooove my Disney!! In a roundabout way it sort of led to my reading habits! At least with the original fairy tales it did and plus it was such a large part of my childhood and I love it! Definitely makes you appreciate the things that you have. Occasionally they teach good lessons too, but as an adult I can kind of see flaws in some of them!

IE: Change being good and bad in order to live a happy life. Aladdin learns being himself and not a prince will get him love and happiness.

The Beast must change who he is in order to get love and happiness! A college professor of mine actually pointed this one out to me!

While trying to save
her brother from a witch’s fire four years ago, Greta was thrown in
herself, falling through a portal to Mylena, a dangerous world where
humans are the enemy and every ogre, ghoul, and goblin has a dark side
that comes out with the eclipse.

To survive, Greta has hidden
her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what
she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young goblin
king, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines
her will to escape.

But Greta’s not the only one looking to get
out of Mylena. An ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the
portal, and with the next eclipse mere days away, every bloodthirsty
creature in the realm is after her—including Isaac. If Greta fails, she
and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be
safe from what follows her back...

Chloe Jacobs' Greta and the Goblin King sounded like a spin on the movie The Labyrinth if you asked me. And I LOOOOVED that movie growing up as a kid (yeah so we got Jaws, The Princess Bride and The Labyrinth among most watched childhood movies!)! And I was quite surprised by this one! I definitely got a sort of Labyrinth feel to it from the cover description but was taken aback by how different the storyline still was and I have to say that I absolutely LOVED it!! May even have to buy the paperback version as this was on my Kindle!

Four years ago, while traipsing through a forest in Germany while on summer vacation, Greta did a very brave thing and pushed her brother out of the way of a magic portal opened by a witch. By saving her brother from a fate unimaginable, she doomed herself in his place. She finds herself in a world called Mylena that is ruled by goblins, faery, gnomes and all other relatives of the fae. She is taken in by a goblin--he might actually have been another creature, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was. The bane of starting a read on a Friday!--and he raised her for the next four years. Training her to fight the creatures of Mylena and protect herself. For humans are most hated by all in this land, and for the most part there aren't too many of them around.

Greta hides her appearance with a simple hairstyle, that way no one notices her rounded human ears. She has come to accept her existence in Mylena, but cannot help but wish for a way home. Then when she discovers her guardian, Luke, has been murdered she is determined to find who did it and kill them. But Luke's last words to her were an ominous warning, the creature that killed him, was really after Greta and where she could be found. Luke, obviously, never spoke a word. While on her quest to discover the meaning behind his warning and find his killer, she comes across a misfit group of boys, human boys.

I was so totally sucked into this story! Isaac, the goblin king, appears to be a teenager around Greta's age and has sort of been a thorn in her side lately. He has the ability to enter her dreams and shape them to his amusement. And it's the main way of communication between them for most of the book. He was quite the character. I couldn't help but see a little bit of Jareth in him! But I think in some ways, he was definitely a kinder sort. He cares for Greta and it becomes clear in his actions and ways. Although, there is still that lingering doubt that he might be trying to mislead Greta into a false sense of security.

Then there's Wyatt, the leader of the human boys she comes across. Greta sees in him everything she could have if she were to live a normal life in the normal world. He reminds her of that world as well. There's some attraction brewing between them too, and even as I thought it was because Wyatt hasn't seen a human girl in years, he points out reasons why that's not true. So points to Wyatt for that!

Thus begins a difficult kind of love triangle and even after finishing the book, I am still not 100% certain if there is a love triangle or not. Greta definitely has some decisions to make and whatnot and even afterward I am still not certain if she's made her final choice. But I'll get to the ending in a bit.

The pacing to this one was well thought out. It's told in third person point of view, but we stick within the realm of Greta's mind. We learn throughout the story of how Greta came to be here, her hardships and what her life is like now. How she met Isaac and all the juicy details. And at the same time, the story is moving forward with Greta on a new kind of mission with the new human boys she stumbled upon or vice versa has the case may be!

The romance was minimal, but intense at the same time! During the dream sequences between Greta and Isaac we got to see some of Isaac's true colors. He's definitely the mysterious type and has his own set of secrets that he keeps from Greta, as she keeps her true identity secret from him. The moments Greta has with Wyatt were sweet. I wasn't really sure who she would end up with. I had who I wanted her to be with thought out, but the actual answer still took me by surprise!The ending was pretty epic! A good ol showdown with the nefarious villain. We learn details about him scattered throughout the middle part of the book. And a pretty big secret about him is revealed! And as I said for the ending it was freaking awesome! More fighting and action that made for one helluva ending!! I am sooooo looking forward to reading more of this series. So next book please! :)Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Stacking The Shelves is all about the
books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our
excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book
in the process!I had a pretty good week! Got some of my preorders in and one even came over a week early, yay! Will I get to it before the release date? Not at all likely, but it came early! Yay!